People are being arrested for exploiting billing loopholes here and here. I wonder if people who consistently leave a 99¢ balance might get the same treatment. Having your credit card cancelled is one thing, but going to jail is a whole lot worse.

bluechalk said: People are being arrested for exploiting billing loopholes here and here. I wonder if people who consistently leave a 99¢ balance might get the same treatment. Having your credit card cancelled is one thing, but going to jail is a whole lot worse.

Is this sort of question going to pop up in every thread where fw members get something for free?

bluechalk said: People are being arrested for exploiting billing loopholes here and here. I wonder if people who consistently leave a 99¢ balance might get the same treatment. Having your credit card cancelled is one thing, but going to jail is a whole lot worse.i honestly dont see how you can compare those two incidents to this

There is no comparison. Credit card issuers have determined it is in their business interest to post these microcredits and not bill for tiny amounts. The credit logic was deliberately programmed into their systems, unlike the cash black glitch which existed in Nordstrom's systems.

One question I often wonder when I'm doing the monthly 99 cent rounds on chase/barclays, why did citi/AMEX decide it's worth their while to bill for the same amount vs. chase/barclays posting a credit? Is their something one company is taking into account the other is not?

There is no similarity between this and the Nordstrom thing, however, some people on the blacklist thread may want to tighten up a bit because more than a few attempted to continue(by changing names/adddresses) after getting blacklisted by a company, and that might start the slippery slope of the Nordstrom debacle. Although it baffles me what is the inherent illegality of the Nordstrom thing? Is it any different than when some companies have a error in the fare/price of their product, and slickdeals/fat wallet orders a ton of them?

bluechalk said: People are being arrested for exploiting billing loopholes here and here. I wonder if people who consistently leave a 99¢ balance might get the same treatment. Having your credit card cancelled is one thing, but going to jail is a whole lot worse.I've seen a story or two about Discover closing an account apparently because the cardholder left a sub-$2.00 balance several times and there seemed to be an intentional pattern. So there may be a potential red flag if there are repetitive instances.

Otherwise, there's nothing fraudulent about having trivial balances dismissed - that's a bank policy. The only danger is the possibility that a bank unexpectedly decides to add a red flag and starts reviewing or canceling accounts with that behavior ...

Revike said: bluechalk said: People are being arrested for exploiting billing loopholes here and here. I wonder if people who consistently leave a 99¢ balance might get the same treatment. Having your credit card cancelled is one thing, but going to jail is a whole lot worse.I've seen a story or two about Discover closing an account apparently because the cardholder left a sub-$2.00 balance several times and there seemed to be an intentional pattern. So there may be a potential red flag if there are repetitive instances.

Otherwise, there's nothing fraudulent about having trivial balances dismissed - that's a bank policy. The only danger is the possibility that a bank unexpectedly decides to add a red flag and starts reviewing or canceling accounts with that behavior ...

where did you see these stories? can you please link. i think alot of people on here have been doing it every month for a long time and i haven't heard anything.

Revike said: bluechalk said: People are being arrested for exploiting billing loopholes here and here. I wonder if people who consistently leave a 99¢ balance might get the same treatment. Having your credit card cancelled is one thing, but going to jail is a whole lot worse.I've seen a story or two about Discover closing an account apparently because the cardholder left a sub-$2.00 balance several times and there seemed to be an intentional pattern. So there may be a potential red flag if there are repetitive instances.

Otherwise, there's nothing fraudulent about having trivial balances dismissed - that's a bank policy. The only danger is the possibility that a bank unexpectedly decides to add a red flag and starts reviewing or canceling accounts with that behavior ...

I've had no less than 12 credits for small balances in the last 24 months and haven't had an issue.

yelve said: where did you see these stories? can you please link. i think alot of people on here have been doing it every month for a long time and i haven't heard anything.One was about a year ago and probably on CreditBoards. I'll see if I can find the link. It was the typical "my account has been closed for absolutely no reason" thread where it takes 15 posts to finally unearth the details of what actually happened. IIRC, the small balances had been generated repeatedly over 4 months or longer and there was little or no "normal" activity mixed in, so it looked obvious. I expect it's a YMMV thing, but my main point would be that you never know when a bank will tweak their risk algorithm and decide that previously allowed behavior suddenly deserves the account be axed. Personally, I prefer to stay below the radar, and wouldn't take even a slight risk with an account I'd had for years, just for $1 or $2 a month ...

Revike said: yelve said: where did you see these stories? can you please link. i think alot of people on here have been doing it every month for a long time and i haven't heard anything.One was about a year ago and probably on CreditBoards. I'll see if I can find the link. It was the typical "my account has been closed for absolutely no reason" thread where it takes 15 posts to finally unearth the details of what actually happened. IIRC, the small balances had been generated repeatedly over 4 months or longer and there was little or no "normal" activity mixed in, so it looked obvious. I expect it's a YMMV thing, but my main point would be that you never know when a bank will tweak their risk algorithm and decide that previously allowed behavior suddenly deserves the account be axed. Personally, I prefer to stay below the radar, and wouldn't take even a slight risk with an account I'd had for years, just for $1 or $2 a month ...thanks for the reply. you do have a point. i wouldn't mind them closing a card but wouldn't want to end up blacklisted. you dont need to spend time looking for an old post like that. now that you mention it it does sound familiar and could even be this thread. i just wanted to be sure it wasn't becoming common.

From all the disclosures I have read, they always say that the rewards are forfeited once an account is closed.

Here is AMEX Memberships Rewards version:

POINT FORFEITURE FOR ACCOUNT CANCELLATION

1. If for any reason we cancel any Linked Account (including because of your death, bankruptcy or insolvency), any points accrued in your program account will be forfeited. If we reinstate the Linked Account(s) within one year of cancellation, any points accrued in your program account may be converted into a participating Frequent Customer program or redeemed for a reward, provided all other conditions set forth herein have been met.

2. If you voluntarily cancel enrollment in the program or cancel all Linked Accounts enrolled in the program but keep at least one AMEX Card open and in good standing, you will have up to 30 days from date of cancellation to redeem the points accrued in the program account.

3. If you cancel a Linked Account and cancel all Cards that are issued by AMEX or its affiliates, all points accrued in the program account will be forfeited immediately.

4. If any Linked Account is not in good standing, your enrollment in the program may be canceled or the points accrued in your program account forfeited.

Glitch99 said: cyberkost said: I must be doing something wrong. This cycle AND previous cycle my AMEX Blue Cash billed at $1.99 .. I thought there was something about them canceling $1.99 every other month. Any words of wisdom, anybody?I never figured out AMEX to be able to take advantage of it. Some reports have said you have to leave the small balance on the card for 2 statements - the SAME balance, not paying it off and creating a new one. But I never got the itch to try it and find out. $1.99 might be too high as well.

Did anybody ever figure this out? It seems like it's clearly not working by making .99 charges each month on any of my AMEX accounts. I haven't tried carrying the balance.

mattun said: Glitch99 said: cyberkost said: I must be doing something wrong. This cycle AND previous cycle my AMEX Blue Cash billed at $1.99 .. I thought there was something about them canceling $1.99 every other month. Any words of wisdom, anybody?I never figured out AMEX to be able to take advantage of it. Some reports have said you have to leave the small balance on the card for 2 statements - the SAME balance, not paying it off and creating a new one. But I never got the itch to try it and find out. $1.99 might be too high as well.

Did anybody ever figure this out? It seems like it's clearly not working by making .99 charges each month on any of my AMEX accounts. I haven't tried carrying the balance.

kintro said: mattun said: Glitch99 said: cyberkost said: I must be doing something wrong. This cycle AND previous cycle my AMEX Blue Cash billed at $1.99 .. I thought there was something about them canceling $1.99 every other month. Any words of wisdom, anybody?I never figured out AMEX to be able to take advantage of it. Some reports have said you have to leave the small balance on the card for 2 statements - the SAME balance, not paying it off and creating a new one. But I never got the itch to try it and find out. $1.99 might be too high as well.

Did anybody ever figure this out? It seems like it's clearly not working by making .99 charges each month on any of my AMEX accounts. I haven't tried carrying the balance.

It works for me.First month charge $1.00. Statement cycles, pay. Next month charge $1.00. Statement cycles, bill is cancelled.Have you tried skipping the month that you have to pay? or does is it required to get the next zeroed?

yelve said: kintro said: mattun said: Glitch99 said: cyberkost said: I must be doing something wrong. This cycle AND previous cycle my AMEX Blue Cash billed at $1.99 .. I thought there was something about them canceling $1.99 every other month. Any words of wisdom, anybody?I never figured out AMEX to be able to take advantage of it. Some reports have said you have to leave the small balance on the card for 2 statements - the SAME balance, not paying it off and creating a new one. But I never got the itch to try it and find out. $1.99 might be too high as well.

Did anybody ever figure this out? It seems like it's clearly not working by making .99 charges each month on any of my AMEX accounts. I haven't tried carrying the balance.

It works for me.First month charge $1.00. Statement cycles, pay. Next month charge $1.00. Statement cycles, bill is cancelled.Have you tried skipping the month that you have to pay? or does is it required to get the next zeroed?

sorry i should have been clearer, i definitely wouldn't skip a payment they billed you for. i mean after the one bill is zeroed not using the card the next, than charging a dollar the next. so you would just be charging the dollar every other month or is that month in between required for them to clear the balance?

sorry i should have been clearer, i definitely wouldn't skip a payment they billed you for. i mean after the one bill is zeroed not using the card the next, than charging a dollar the next. so you would just be charging the dollar every other month or is that month in between required for them to clear the balance?

I vaguely recall trying that a long time ago. Not 100% certain but I don't think it worked.Sure-fire, at least for me, has been $1/month pay, $1/month credit.

mattun said: Which AMEX are you pulling this off with if I might ask?

Hilton & Clear. Did it successfully with other cards too (Starwood both business & personal) which have since been close due to AF.

EugeneV said: Why, one could also charge $X and pay ($X-0.49) before statement date.

Actually, I've been using this technique, even on cards that I'm using regularly. At first when I found this thread, I was just taking all of my unused cards and trying to find things as close to $1.00 but just under ($2 for Discover). Then one month I accidentally charged two $.99 things on the same Chase card. Oops. But then I figured, what if I paid $1.00 on the card? Then at least I'd still have saved $.98 (as opposed to having to actually pay the $1.98). That worked. So now, for all of my cards that forgive a small balance (Chase x 8, Discover x 3, USBank, Capital One), I check a day or so before the statement is cut. If my balance is less than about $400, I go ahead and pay the current balance - $.99. Then the $.99 is forgiven. I still use my sock-drawered cards for small purchases, but now don't worry as much that they have to be $.99. If there's something I need, for say $3.85, and I've met my RCA requirements for the month, I might put it on one of those little-used cards, then pay off all but $.99. Better to save $.99 on it than to earn $.14 of CashBack. And I don't have to hunt for <$1.00 (after tax) trinkets to buy. And for the regularly-used cards, that small bit of interest I'm losing by paying off the balance 25 days or so before it's actually due, is less than the $.99 I'm saving by having it written off.

A side benefit of paying my regularly-used cards down to $.99 is that after the credit, my balance reports to zero, which reduces my number of cards reporting a balance, which helps my credit score a smidgen. Every little bit...

USBank Cash+ has worked for me at $.99, but if as others here are posting they're changing to $.49, that concerns me; it means they're paying attention to this, and could potentially take some kind of AA. I think I'm going to cool it saving the $.99 on the USBank cards; they're too precious to me to screw around with this.

I've never gotten any of my AmExes to work at any amount. I've tried CostCo TrueRewards (personal), CostCo TrueRewards Business, and AMEX Premier Rewards Gold, at $.79 and $.99. Never a small balance credit, even the first month. Maybe it's just me.

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